Don’t lose staff – Important changes for non-EU medical and teaching professionals applying to work in the UK

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Posted on Feb 24, 2017

Public and private sector employers in the medical and education sectors are being advised to start preparing for the Home Office’s latest changes if they want to avoid losing or delaying the recruitment of new non-EU medical and teaching professionals from overseas.

With the latest changes as of 6 April 2017, immigration law firm, Migrate UK , is warning any sponsors to start checking whether those skilled Tier 2 employees, applying to work in the UK under particular SOC codes such as Pharmacists, Dentists, Nurses, Midwives, and nursery, primary and secondary education teaching professionals, are subject to a new requirement to produce a criminal record certificate.

Failure to meet these new requirements for relevant individuals could result in a visa refusal by the Home Office.

“Even if you know that the employee has gone through a criminal record check before, employees under certain SOC codes will still need a criminal record certificate because previous checks were not examined by the Home Office,” said Jonathan Beech, Managing Director of Migrate UK.

This new obligation currently affects non-EU employees aged 18 and above applying from any country in which they have been residing for 12 months or more, in the past 10 years. Jonathan continues,

“These latest changes by the Home Office appear to affect those medical professionals who will have direct contact with the public if they’re successful in their application.

“We advise that employers check relevant SOC codes well in advance of the changes and ensure they communicate any requirement for a criminal record certificate to potential recruits well before April, as processing times for obtaining certificates can vary from country to country. This will give the employee plenty of time to apply and ensure they’re not caught out at the last minute. Also, ensure that they request that their certificates are as up to date as possible.”